The NOT to pack list

Here are the top things I have learned not to take on our outward trip.

• We rarely take gifts back for family - we order things online to be shipped directly to them. There are exceptions to this rule - for example if there is something that can only be bought abroad or is much higher quality, like chocolate. However I know from experience that 12 bars of chocolate can make a carry-on rather heavy.
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• shampoo and conditioner - most hotels and homes you go to will have some in the bathroom. You may want to pack baby shampoo for any babies or small children on the trip. If you are doing a hostel or backpacking tour or university dorms, you will want to pack shampoo and conditioner or maybe a combo.
• bathrobes
• jewelry or anything valuable
• towels
• electrical appliances or anything with motors - which need adapters and sometimes converters. Transformers are often more expensive to buy than just purchasing a cheap one in the UK. 
• guide books - a whole guide book can be quite heavy and do you really need the whole thing? We recommend photocopying or even slicing out the parts of the book you think you'll need. If you are only doing a week in London, why lug around the entire Rick Steve's England guide? 
• extra books. A 200 page book should take 5 hours to read at average speed. I would always prefer to take a kindle or a phone with a kindle app for the compulsive reader, or limit everyone to one book (except toddlers who usually get 3 small ones).
• neck pillows - most transatlantic flights have inbuilt head-huggers which make neck pillows superfluous or even uncomfortable
  
• pillows - they give out pillows on the flight and someone clever told me recently you can bring your own pillow slip which takes up hardly any space for the same feel of home
• pj's - try to set up your destination if it's with family or friends to have pjs and three sets of clothes for everyone. The exception is if you want to dress your kids in pjs on an overnight flight to help them feel it is bedtime. If you are a student/backpacker, try to take day clothes that are comfortable enough to sleep in so they can be your backup pair of clothes. Everything on a trip has to work double-duty!
• two costumes - this is what I packed in my bag on my first solo trip abroad! The long, flowing cloak I only wore once in a Scottish gale took two and half days to dry in my airless dorm room. It took up loads of space in the suitcase and my friend who saw me in it said, 'I hope no one else saw you.'
• Satsumas or any fresh fruit. My family still laugh about the satsuma story - when we brought two satsumas over the border and got stuck in the longest line in creation. We were only saved waiting three hours by our two babies starting to shriek their heads off and airport staff hurrying us to the front of the line. Now we ditch any fresh food on the airplane or don't bring it at all.
  
• If you have kids:
• Your kids' own packing of their backpacks. They are sure to pack their entire homemade salt dough collection, their megablocks collection and Dad's weights. I never let our kids even have their own backpacks because they invariably want me to carry them - along with their coats and half-eaten snacks.
• changing pads - I now take pieces of fabric I've cut up from sheets from charity shops. Then I can throw them away after I use them. They take up less space than these plastic ones.
• bibs - baby is not going to spit up on a bib, he's going to spit up on you or dad or your neighbor or his shoes which aren't washable. The exception is these enormous, plastic, long-sleeve painting bibs that you might only get out during Craft Time. Well pack a few of them for your trip because that's the only bib that will be useful.
• stuffed toys unless you need them desperately. I try to mentally prepare my kids for leaving behind their toys for a month in advance. If they have to take one, it is better if it's a small one and washable. So work on attaching them to the stuffed toy of your choice.
  
• if you are blessed with a direct flight, you might not need three changes of clothes per kid but I tend to pack an outfit per layover (so a two leg trip gets two sets of clothes, a three leg trip gets three changes of clothes, etc.)